1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of aroma dissemination and particularly to an automatic system and method for the controlled dissemination of aromas.
2. The Prior Art
Manufacturers of personal fragrances, such as perfumes and colognes and the like have found it beneficial to use attractive people, called aroma models, in a direct connection between the advertising and sale of their products. Aroma models employed in stores that carry higher priced fragrances, have the task of applying to themselves the fragrance of their employer and then of attempting to intercept, gracefully, as many fragrance buyers as possible from among all persons entering the store or the fragrance sales area. The aroma models attempt not only to call their employer's fragrance to the attention of those potential customers but, simultaneously, to attempt to inform the customers of the trade name of the fragrance. In this way, customers will gain a favorable impression of the fragrance and will know the trade name to ask for at the appropriate counter or other sales location. This technique is used almost exclusively in the sales periods in which such fragrances are most likely to be bought, such as Valentine's Day, Mothers'Day, and Christmas.
One of the disadvantages of this sales technique is that there are sometimes too many aroma models clustered in a small area, since each one wants to have the most advantageous post. Many potential customers dislike such crowding. In addition, having the aroma models close together makes it likely that their fragrances will mingle and will not be sufficiently distinct to convey to passersby the message the fragrance manufacturers desire. In fact, it is possible that mixing the fragrances will result in an aroma that is noticeably less pleasant than any one of the fragrances.
Yet another disadvantage is that, in an effort to stand out, an aroma model may reapply the fragrance too often, achieving an excessively strong smell and using too much of an expensive perfume.
Still another problem is that, while there are certain sales periods when a large number of customers buy aromatic products, there is a steady sale at a lower volume level to customers who buy such products for their own use and for birthday and other gift purposes that occur throughout the year. This volume level is not high enough to justify employing aroma models full time, but manufacturers and store owners would like to make this relatively steady sales level as high as possible.
Another use of aromas that has recently been found to be beneficial is for therapeutic purposes. Aroma therapy can create an improved condition in those who use it, even though they do so entirely alone. One problem in such use is attempting to obtain an appropriate rate of dissemination of the aroma, there being no advantage, and even a possible disadvantage, in dispersing too much of the aroma into a treatment space. It is wasteful to dispense the aroma either before the people seeking treatment enter the treatment space or after they leave it. At the same time, it is clearly undesirable to fail to dispense any of the aroma when a person seeking its benefit is in the treatment space. Having a knowledgeable person set an appropriate rate of dissemination is necessary, but it would be unacceptably expensive for the overwhelming majority of people undergoing aroma therapy to have to rely on having someone constantly on duty to monitor that rate.